The Phantom of the 21st Century
by PhantomPhan0413
Summary: Liam never knew anything other than what his a lot of greats grandfather taught him. But Erik never taught his grandson how to love someone. Liam loves Annie Doyle. A lot. Will history be repeated or can Liam change things before it's too late? Rated T just to be safe... I own nothing. Except OC


The Phantom of the 21st Century

By Sydney Oakman

Musical Lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Introduction

I've bet a lot of you've heard the story of the Phantom of the Opera. Maybe, maybe not. It has been over 100 years. But, anyway, thirty years later the Opera was rebuilt and all the old stuff was auctioned off. And, now the Opera is, I guess you could say a new Broadway. Anyone and everyone in France have come to see the Opera House that is now known as Le Nouvel Opera, in English "The New Opera". Typical. The only evidence of the old Opera is the catacombs. It was the only thing untouched by the fire. I'm the only one who's been down there in 141 years. Actually, I live down there like my great-something grandfather. The original Opera Ghost. It's always nice to follow in family members footstep, except I haven't actually killed anyone or anything like that. I haven't even asked for a salary. Man, my great-grandfather must be very disappointed in me. His name was Erik. He was in love with a woman named Christine Daae but then a man by the name if Monsieur Raoul de Chagny ripped her out of his hands. Then ten years later, Erik finally gets her back but a girl named Meg (spoiler alert) killed her. So then he had to raise his son, Gustave, all by himself and then Gustave fell in love and so on and so forth. And, how you ask, did I figure all this out? Why Erik helped me put this little story together. Before we jump to conclusions let me explain something. Erik is a mastermind. He figured out how to stop himself from aging. He figured it out three years before he met Christine, actually. So there you have it he is not an actual ghost but just a genius.

Chapter One: New Years Eve

Erik and I watched the people of France celebrate the coming new year on the highest balcony. So what if it was 2012? It doesn't mean we're going to die. Well at least I hope not. Anyway, Erik looked like he was staring into space-he does that a lot- while I was staring at the beautiful and amazing Annie. I watched as her straight brown hair flow over her shoulders, her blue eyes glistening with excitement, and her million-dollar smile reflecting off of everything.

"Erik, can I _please _go down there?" I begged. Note: Erik refused to let me call him great-grandpa or grandpa etc.

"No, Liam. There's too much of a crowd and if anything happens to you I'll have your head," he explained.

"You just don't want me to talk to Annie," I murmured.

"Annie Doyle is the type of person who would not enjoy your…you," he half-whispered.

"Are you referring to my-I mean- our face?" I asked. Yeah, I admit we both do not have attractive faces. It's weird, not one of my ancestors had a deformed face except for Erik and I end up getting the Face. (There have been a lot of ideas of how the Phantom's face looks and I'll tell you it's ten thousand times worse than any one of those. He does have the half-mask and I've only seen his face once when I was four. Surprisingly, for a four year old, I didn't scream. It just felt normal like I saw it everyday.)

"I'll keep my mask on," I tried. He shook his head. Like great-something grandfather like great-something grandson. We were both stubborn and hotheaded. Also we fell in love very fast and very easily. Except Erik only has fallen in love once and he still loves her, although she's dead. "Fine, I'm getting tired. Can we go to back now?" I asked exhausted.

"Sure." We walked through the catacombs, avoiding booby traps that we'd set together. We got onto the little 1800s boat and were in music paradise under fifteen minutes. Erik built a new bedroom when my father dropped me off to live with him. It's not nearly the size of Erik's bedroom but it's bigger than an average sized bedroom. I changed into pyjamas and went into my bathroom. I had smuggled a mirror into the bathroom without Erik noticing. I'm sure he wouldn't of minded it but with his history of mirrors I didn't want to risk it. To be honest with you, my face isn't nearly as bad as Erik's. His is all…ugh and mines more so, so. But still if you saw me on the street without my mask on you'd run away screaming and probably jump off a cliff in the process. Like Erik, my face is only deformed on one side. I slowly took the mask off and the mirror revealed my face. Pretty much, it looked like I was in an accident involving a fire but it looked recent, maybe a week? My skin was a pink and my cheek was swollen, and the skin below my eye drooped a bit and revealed a bit more white of my eye than it's suppose to. Otherwise I'm very good looking, plus the deformity only reaches the top of my cheek so I can wear large eye masks and still look normal-ish. I brushed my teeth and then crawled into bed. I waited ten minutes after hearing Erik go to bed when I got up and changed into my good jeans-which were ripped- and a black t-shirt. I put my eye mask on and went into the living room/ Erik's cluttered mess. I snuck to the boat silently and made my way to the New Years Eve masquerade party.

Chapter Two: The Angel of Music Drama

When I reached the party I still had thirty seconds left to count down to 2012. I found a spot near Annie, who was in a short black dress with a black lacy mask. She was laughing and having a good time with her friends. I decided to get a bit closer to see if she would notice that I was all alone on New Years. 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

"Happy New Year!" the crowed shouted. Annie and her friends escaped into the Opera before things got too chaotic. I followed her example and stayed in shadow behind her. I followed them up to the ballet dormitories and two of her friends bailed on the way. It was only Annie, her best friend, and I.

"What's your New Years resolution, Annie?" the friend asked.

"I don't know, maybe become a better singer or finally find this teacher that my grandmother is always talking about," Annie suggested in a bored tone.

"Teacher?" the friend said and I thought.

"Yeah some singing teacher that my ancestors friend knew and apparently her friend was the best soprano in the world. But the teacher is dead being about 130 years old," she said.

"Well, TTYL and see you tomorrow at rehearsals," the friend said and went into her dorm. Annie went into her room and I snuck in-somehow-without her noticing. I closed my eyes as she got changed. I was really wondering how she couldn't see me. Was it bad lighting? When I heard her turn off the light and crawl into bed I opened my eyes. I made a quick decision. She wanted to learn how to really sing? So be it.

I threw my voice just like Erik taught me and in the opposite corner of the room my voice said, "I hear you want to sing." Annie shot up in bed and looked around.

"Who said that?" she asked.

"I'm your new teacher, Annie. There's no need to be scared," I said soothingly.

"Are you _the_ teacher that taught Christine Daae?" she asked.

"No, I am a relative that can teach you more," I explained.

"He's alive?"

I hesitated to answer but said, "Are Angels alive?" She thought about it.

"The Angel of Music. Are you the new Angel of Music?" she asked, sounding excited.

"What?" I asked, confused. My voice started to change spots, sometimes on a chair or in another corner or even directly on top of her. _Concentrate, _I thought.

"My ancestor knew Christine and she told her all about you or the Angel and then my mom told me, if you aren't the Angel it's a long story," Annie explained.

"Oh, then, yes, I am the new Angel of Music," I lied, walking to the door.

"When can you teach me?" she asked.

"Tomorrow ni…" I was pulled into the hall by a black glove covering my mouth. The door shut behind me and I heard Annie calling me.

"What are you doing?" Erik whispered violently.

"I wanted to get close to her," I explained.

"Are you crazy? I did exactly what you're doing 140 years ago," he told me.

"You're the Angel?" I asked, surprised.

"I was, until Christine tore the angelic part of me out," he said, dramatically.

"Graphic, much," I said to myself. Erik started to drag me down the hall. I pulled back and Erik lost his grip on my shirt.

"Why can't I teach her?" I asked upset.

"I've been down that road, Liam. I don't want your heart to be broken either," he explained.

"Well, maybe it'll be different this time. I can approach it in a new way," I offered. Erik shook his head and stepped back to let me pass by him. I went down a trap door and stormed to my room and slammed the door closed. I hated my life. I hated Erik. I hated my stupid face. And I hated the stupid music Erik wrote! He had to ruin my life because of his regrets. I went into the bathroom and took my mask off. I stared at my deformed face. I let my anger get the best of me and punched the mirror. A blast of pain shot up my arm. I looked at my knuckles and they were bleeding. I grabbed some bandage and wrapped it around my hand. I lay back on my bed and thought. Somewhere in all the thinking I fell asleep and slept dreamlessly.

Chapter Three: Lessons With the Angel of Music

Erik woke me up at about eleven. While he made breakfast I changed into another pair of black shirts and ripped jeans. I put on a typical black eye mask and went into the dining room. The room was draped with black, black, and more black also a hint of red. On the table, Erik had set eggs and bacon on either end. We ate in silence. He was obviously still upset about last night.

"Madame Thompson will be coming by to…take care of you while I go out," Erik explained.

"Take care of me or baby-sit me? I'm eighteen now- almost nineteen- Erik. I'm old enough to take care of myself; actually, I was old enough eight years ago," I said.

"I just don't want you running after Miss Annie, that's all," he explained.

"No, Erik. I'm making my own decisions now. You lost Christine because of your actions, I can do the opposite of what you did," I barked.

"You're doing the same thing I did one hundred and forty ago," he responded with the same tone as I.

"I'm not going to kill anyone," I promised.

"Fine, you've got one chance, if anything goes wrong I'll pull you out of there," Erik agreed. After breakfast Erik left to go into the city and Madame Thompson didn't come like my great- grandfather promised. I found Erik's old violin in the closet and practiced a few bars. The thing is I've never played the violin before and somehow I sounded awesome. I found a song Erik wrote and played the entire thing once without messing up. I checked the clock. It was almost six o'clock PM. I guess looking for a song and violin takes a long time. Then again Erik hides all this stuff from me. I found a secret hallway in the walls and learned they run all the way through the ballet dorms. I found Annie's easily. There was a one-way mirror so I could see her sitting on her bed obviously waiting for me.

"Annie Doyle?" I asked.

"Angel?" she immediately got excited. Her smile itself lit up her entire beautiful face.

"Yes. I'm here for your lessons. Are you ready?" I asked. She nodded. I lifted the violin to my shoulder and started to play Erik's music. I sang along to the violin:

_Normal by light,_

_Killer of the dead by night,_

_Sleep in harmony I will not,_

_Lest you will be forgot,_

_Kiss the lips to seal,_

_His deadly deal,_

_Copy the ideas of a stranger,_

_Will only lead you to danger,_

_Love is a wound,_

_A sea dune,_

_Stake the heart,_

_While the lark sings,_

_The fires of guns and roses,_

_While you doze,_

_Don't care,_

_Never be there…_

She sang it once by herself her voice filling the room. We let the violin play the end and then silence.

"Angel, that was beautiful!" Annie exclaimed.

"I know. It's an old song. Written by the original Angel of Music. He passed it down to me," I lied.

"Can we sing some more? You're voice is wonderful," she complimented.

"No, one session per day," I told her.

"Please Angel. One more?" she begged.

"Alright, Annie. But I won't be coming tomorrow then," I promised. She nodded in agreement.

"Do you have any songs? This is all brought," I explained.

"Kind of. It's a song I wrote, but not a good one," she offered.

"You write songs?" I asked. She got up and looked through her desk.

"Yeah, shouldn't you know? You are an Angel." I swore under my breath. She was right. I should know that.

"Are you still there?" Annie asked, worried.

"Yeah, sorry. I was thinking," I danced out of la, la land. She brought out a sheet of paper and waved it in the air.

"Where should I put it?" she asked.

"Near the mirror." She placed it at my feet. Not that she knew. I sat down on the cold cement floor and read the song over. "This is beautiful, Annie," I complimented. She blushed as I started to play her song. This time she sang the majority of it. Her voice filled the room -and secret hallway- with love and light. We finished the song and Annie was crying.

"Annie, why are you crying?" I asked, concerned.

"I'm crying with happiness. You made my song beautiful," she said.

"It would have been beautiful without my assistance," I explained. She smiled and said goodbye. I snuck away without replying. Just to be mysterious. When I got back to the "Lair" my smile was so huge I probably looked like the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland. But my celebration was short lived because a fist shot out and punched me in the face. I turned to face the person who had given me the stinging cheek.

"What the heck?" I asked, appalled.

"You stole my music!" Erik yelled.

"So, you never use it," I snapped.

"I told you not to go through my things." He stepped back and glared at me. I walked further into the Lair but I was stopped by something hard hitting my head and knocking me out.


End file.
